Guide To Getting It On - 6th Edition

$24.95

by Paul JoannidesGuide to Getting It On is touted as "America's Coolest and Most Informative Book About Sex" and we couldn't agree more. Now in its sixth edition, this funny and honest book focuses on heterosexual sex and relationships and its comprehensive range focuses on everything from romance to anal sex to quickies on the road. Informative and sometimes even goofy, this blows all other sex guides out of the water.

My goodness, even with my knowledge and jaded experience, I learned a heap of fascinating facts about sex through the ages, the evolution of underwear, sex in cyberspace, various kinks, even the sex history of Barbie dolls (really -- you've got to read about Cock-Ring Ken!). I reviewed this book in more detail on my blog about sex and aging at http://betterthanieverexpected.blogspot.com/2009/01/guide-to-getting-it-on-best-sex-manual.html. I hope some of you will add your comments there, too. Joan Price author of Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex After Sixty (http://www.joanprice.com/BetterThanExpected.htm) Join us -- we're talking about ageless sexuality at http://www.betterthanieverexpected.blogspot.com

I love this book! This book really is a pretty comprehensive, researched handbook on sex. I can see how people would be critical, but from another angle, really it is far from the mainstream bullshit most people are fed on sexuality that is really very sad, if not much worse. It encompasses tons of techniques, instructions, and ideas, and discusses all dimensions that sexual activity influences i.e.: physical sensations, emotional, spiritual, and it's influence on healing disorders of all these realms. It includes pretty up-to-date research and sex-statistics. One of the best things is, I could see it being really positive, and approachable for more mainstream minded-folk. It speaks lightly, humorously, and includes tons of Archie's comic style illustrations throughout. Easy to read. It is hetero-centric, but most can be applied to those who wish to please women or men, regardless of your own gender.

Yes, this is a book written by a straight vanilla man. I gifted both my sons with this book when they each started spending lotsa time behind closed doors in early puberty. The illustrations are sex-positive and graphic....my choice for running interference on all the smutty junk-food porn they'll inevitably bump up against during their sexual lives. This book rocks as a comprehensive guide for young men exploring their sexuality! When I gave it to my youngest at the tender age of 13, I suggested that when he hears something from peers he knows to be untrue (there's teeth down there!), that he can be a source of real information and education. I'm happy to report that two years later, he tells me he and his girlfriend have decided not to have sex for a long long time....he wants the first ("and every") time to be magical and for them both to be emotionally mature. I believe that the info in this book...especially about the differences between sex and intimacy have positively influenced to take such a mature attitude. This is not a book for those of us who've been around the block multiple times (tho I learned stuff!), but an excellent guide for a mostly straight male sexual newbie, and a wonderful stepping stone into the vast world of erotic pleasure...

I'd give this one zero stars if I could. Sure, it explicitly says that it focuses on heterosexual relationships, but... c'mon. This book relies on tired old stereotypes of sex and sexual acts. (For instance, cunnilingus is icky" and this book seeks to reassure the reader that it is not "icky.") Plus, it assumes that a man has a penis, a woman has a vagina, a man is masculine, a woman is feminine, a man prefers to top and penetrate a woman, a woman prefers to be "filled up" and on the bottom, et cetera et cetera. So it excludes a lot of straight people as well because not everyone fits into this tired old stereotype. And if you're a straight woman, be warned that this book really caters to straight men. Plus, it focuses much more on men than on women. I mean, a whole chapter devoted to an anatomy of balls and another whole chapter devoted to the foreskin? Where's the chapter, for instance, that talks about the four hormones of the menstruation cycle? Avoid this book if you don't want to read sport metaphors (example: the cunnilingus section), if you are not in a heteronormative relationship, or if you don't want to read parental advice (because sex inevitably leads to having children, duh)."

It's pretty comprehensive and perfectly fine if you're a relatively vanilla straight monogamous couple, but I didn't appreciate the tone of voice it assumed from time to time. The author seems to, perhaps subconciously, give a negative attitude toward anything kink-related and anything that wasn't, well... relatively vanilla straight monogamous sex. Considering the great reviews I'd found for this book on various sex-ed websites, I'd expected more from it. When they introduced chapter 45 "Kinky Corner" with this: "Readers will hopefully appreciate that vanilla is The Guide's favorite flavor", I just about threw the book across the room. It was very funny and informative in a great many places. But if you want something that doesn't just skim the safe surface of sex, this one isn't for you.

i am really disappointed in this book. i guess i assumed that a book being promoted by "alternative" and sex-positive bookstores/toy stores would be more inclusive and less gendered than it is. the author disclaims that it is a book written primarily for straight couples (and it is very obviously written by a straight male), so i guess i can't complain too much. but i'd really like to see more sex books that change up pronouns when referring to sexual acts that can be performed by any gender. besides that, which i can't fault it for too much, the book had a lot of subtle gender stereotyping and some blatantly negative statements about queer/trans people. quotes which i found particularly offensive: same-sex fun & luvin'-- "People sometimes think that all lesbians are bull dykes or ride on Harleys... Lesbians are just as feminine (or unfeminine) as women who sleep with men. A number of very hot-looking actresses and models are lesbians." i guess only thin blonde lesbians are sexually attractive. sorry, butch women, you are not "hot-looking" at all. threesomes-- "If you enjoyed the experience, it's important to send the third wheel flowers if she's a woman, or something manly if he's a guy." uh-huh... gender benders-- "Some transgendered men want to look like women, act like women, and be women in every way except that they enjoy their penis and testicles. This person might be known as a she-male..." the author goes on to refer to pre-op/no-op mtf women as "she-males" for the rest of the chapter. i'm sure there are some transwomen who identify with that term, but for a straight male to use it is completely inappropriate and offensive.

I love this book! Hands down, it's one of the most informative books I've ever read on sex, sexual practices, and their practical application into one's daily life. No wonder colleges across the US use this book as a Human Sexuality textbook! If you're threatened by the idea that the author has an "agenda," just remember that no one can change your opnion on a matter but you. Even if Paul Johannes seems to have a particular stance on a topic (and I, for one, really didn't get that) all of the information in this book is researched and presented in a fun, easy to read format. I thought I knew it all when I read this book, and I learned a few things! A special bonus- no soft, fuzzy, "Anne Hooper" style pictures here! All of the illustrations are *hot* and some of them are rather graphic- don't get this book for your 16 year old!